Can Stokes Tame His Fiery Nature In New Senior Role?

Should Joe Root be unfit to lead England, is Ben Stokes, with his fiery nature, the right man to lead England? Derek Pringle looks at the conundrum.

- Derek Pringle

The appointment of Ben Stokes as England vice-captain to Joe Root is one of English cricket's boldest decisions since Nasser Hussain was made captain 18 years ago.

While Root was a foregone conclusion as Alastair Cook’s successor as Test captain, an accession that was obvious once Root cut the cocky kid act a few years ago, Stokes’ promotion as his deputy would have required a larger leap of faith. Arrested for anti-social behaviour in 2011, sent home from an England Lions tour for persistent late-night drinking in 2013, Stokes appeared to be heading for an Asbo rather than absolution.

It wasn’t just off the field, either, that he was a fully signed-up hothead resplendent with tattoos, a combination the establishment normally avoids when choosing players for higher office. In short, Stokes looked to be the opposite of Cook, whose tarnish-free image once moved Giles Clarke to describe him as “very much the sort of person we want the England captain and his family to be”.

What Clarke meant to say was that Cook is polite, contained, well-spoken and public-school educated, none of which can be readily applied to Stokes.

Stokes is not head honcho, yet, but he will be if Root is injured, inconvenienced or, heaven for fend, banned for slow over rates. Whenever that happens, and it will, the outcome promises to be anything but dull with Stokes leading the way.